Powers/Abilities: After being cursed with
eternal reincarnation, the Slave of Souls' consciousness was constantly
being reincarnated into new host bodies over the course of thousands of
years, where it usually remained dormant. When his soul was allowed to
become dominant within its host body, the Slave of Souls could
transform its host into a form resembling his original body and he
could completely control his host body, leaving his host body at his
own discretion.

He was apparently able to take others with him when
he departed his host body.

While possessing the Thing's body, the Slave of Souls
had access to the Thing's superhuman strength and durability. He also
carried a spear.

History:
(Thing I#8 (fb)) - In ancient Egypt, the man who would be someday be
called the Slave of Souls was picked from among an unnoteworthy
pharaoh's slaves by the pharaoh's third wife, due to his pleasing face
and form, to be a consort. Despite the pharaoh's vizier's attempts to
dissuade her, the pharaoh's wife had the slave brought to her and
promised the key to the slave's shackles if he were to serve her. The
slave instead rejected her, announcing that she had no claim to his
freedom, prompting the pharaoh's wife to assault the slave, shocked at
his refusal to serve his queen. The slave's interaction with the
pharaoh's wife was interrupted by the arrival of the pharaoh himself,
who demanded to know who the man with his wife was Still spurned by the
slave, the pharaoh's wife claimed that the man was a kitchen slave who
had refused to prepare a special feast for the pharaoh's return and
despite the pharaoh's knowledge that his wife was lying, he ordered the
slave punished for his insolence in an effort to keep his much younger
wife happy. The pharaoh then ordered his soldier to knock the slave
unconscious, opting to decide a suitable punishment for the slave the
following day. The pharaoh's wife then asked if she could decide the
punishment and the pharaoh agreed as the slave was dragged away. The
following morning, the pharaoh announced that the slave's punishment,
as decided by his wife, was to have smoldering metal rods driven into
his brain through his eyes. Refusing to beg for his life, the slave
remained silent, angering the queen once more, who decided to have her
the vizier, a wizard, curse the slave by cast a spell that would
eternally reincarnate the slave in another's body rather than allow him
to pass into death. Saddened by the queen's request, the wizard asked
that he be spared from having to commit such a terrible request but the
queen ordered the wizard to do so lest he be punished with a far
greater punishment than that of the slave. The wizard then did as he
was told, chanting the spell that would refuse the slave death as the
rods were driven into the slave's rods, all the while thinking how he
would somehow find a counter-spell to someday spare the slave from his
curse.

(Thing I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Over four thousand years,
the slave's consciousness was reincarnated into several insignificant
host bodies as the slave remained constantly aware and conscious of his
fate, unable to act.

(Marvel Encyclopedia HC Vol. 6: Fantastic Four -
Slave of Souls entry (fb) - BTS) - The slave began to be called the
Slave of Souls.

(Thing
I#8) - In the modern era, the wizard, having survived time via an
age-retarding potion, located the slave's consciousness within the
heroic Thing when the Thing was visiting Alicia Masters in Mercy
General Hospital, where the wizard worked as a janitor. Confronting the
Thing, the wizard released the Slave of Souls' consciousness within the
Thing, allowing the Slave of Souls to dominate the Thing's will and
control the Thing's body. Free at last, the Slave of Souls announced
that the world should tremble at his newfound freedom.

(Thing I#9) - The Slave of Souls rampaged through New
York, destroying anything in his way and announcing that he now had
enough power to lay waste to the "mad city of the future." Feeling as
if he had lived countless stupid, useless lives, the Slave of Souls
felt he now had enough power to enact vengeance on those who had
betrayed and imprisoned him in the past. Eventually, the US military
was called in to battle the Slave of Souls and they used a Reed
Richards-designed weapon against the Slave to no avail. Reuniting with
the wizard that had cursed him, the Slave of Souls then ventured into a
United Nations meeting, where he declared his rule of all lands of the
world, prompting a confrontation with the NYPD and Alicia Masters, who
had been rescued during the Slave's rampage by a police officer. After
Alicia Masters debated with the Slave of Souls, insisting he had no
claim over the Thing's body, the Slave began to admit that eventually,
the Thing's body would eventually grow old and die, leaving the Slave
to continue his inevitable reincarnation into another body, making his
actions within the Thing pointless. The wizard quickly tried to
convince the Slave of Souls otherwise, reminding him how he had lived
so long and didn't wish to see his plans shrivel. Questioning the
wizard, the Slave learned of the wizard's centuries-old plan to revive
him at the cost of another's soul. When Alicia chimed in, the Slave of
Souls announced that he would do what he must but the wizard attempted
to resume his influence over the Slave, ordering the Slave of Souls to
kill Alicia Masters. Instead, the Slave of Souls lifted the wizard into
the air using his spear, then proclaimed to Alicia that he had wanted
only justice but had no right to deny justice to another soul. He then
announced that he could leave the world as easily as he entered it and
did so, taking the wizard with him as he departed the Thing's body.

Comments: Created by John Byrne, Ron Wilson
and Hilary Barta.

The Slave of Souls had a profile in Marvel
Encyclopedia HC Vol. 6: Fantastic Four (2004). His height and weight as
the Thing were revealed in that profile. Presumably, the Slave of
Souls' original height could also be 6' but his original weight was
surely not 500 lbs., as it was while possessing Thing. This entry was
also the only time the slave was called "Slave of Souls."

The Slave of Souls' hair color was impossible to
determine, as the flashbacks to ancient Egypt only showed him wearing a
headdress that covered his hair and in the modern era, he was only
shown inhabiting the Thing's body.

The identity of the Pharaoh and his third wife are not revealed in Thing
v1 #8, but there are details that we can use to make an educated guess.
He reigned "four thousand years" ago, indicating an approximate date of
circa 2000 BC, perhaps within a safe estimate sometime between
2100-1900 BC. The Great Sphinx of Giza stands, thus after the reign of
Khafre (c. 2558-2532 BC). The Jews are still enslaved, thus before the
reign of Ramses II (c. 1279-1212 BC). Note that if the Slave of Souls
was a Jew and his reincarnations eventually resulted with Ben Grimm, it
is notable regarding Ben Grimm's Jewish heritage. The Pharaoh's "third
wife died while giving him his sixteenth son." Upon researching all the
Pharaohs who reigned c. 2100-1900 BC, the one who seems to most closely
match this description would be Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, who reigned c.
2061-2010 BC (according to the Egyptian Conventional Chronology), who
was a Pharaoh of the 11th Dynasty. He had many wives, including his
primary wives Tem and Neferu, and several secondary wives including
Henhenet, whose mummy shows that she had died in childbirth. Although
Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II was not necessarily recorded as having sixteen
sons, ancient history rarely records later children who are not the
primary heirs or successors, and combined with high child mortality, it
is reasonable why there is no note of a possible sixteenth son. -Wolfram Bane

McRoy was a US soldier called in during the Slave of
Souls' rampage within the Thing's body. Part of squad that was given a
device created by Reed Richards that could melt a titanium steel block
thirty feet within seconds, McRoy questioned the Slave's announcements
of vengeance but was quieted by another soldier before the group set up
the weapon and fired on the Slave. Unfortunately, the weapon proved
useless and the Slave hurled his spear, destroying the weapon as McRoy
and the other soldiers dove for cover.

McRoy possessed the typical weapons and training of a
US military soldier.

--Thing I#9

pharaoh

Ruling four thousand years ago, the unidentified
pharaoh was served by Jewish slaves and was "historically
unnoteworthy." During one of the pharaoh's hunts, his much younger wife
chose a slave as a lover but when the slave refused her advances, she
attacked him just as the pharaoh returned from his hunt and demanded to
know what was going on. Despite seeing through his wife's transparent
lie that the slave had refused to prepare a banquet in the pharaoh's
honor, the pharaoh accepted her ruse to keep his young wife happy.
Announcing that the slave would be punished for his insolence, the
pharaoh had the slave knocked unconsciouss when the slave tried to
explain and had his guards take the slave away while he decided the
slave's punishment. As the slave was taken away, the pharaoh's wife
asked that she decide the slave's fate and the pharaoh agreed. The
following day, the pharaoh announced that his wife had opted to have
smoldering metal rods driven through the slave's eyes. When the slave
appeared brave and refused to beg for his life, the pharaoh watched as
his wife had the court wizard cast a spell that prevented the slave's
soul from passing into the afterlife upon its physical death. The
pharaoh then watched as his guards held down the slave as the metal
rods were driven into his eyes and the wizard's spell cast.

--Thing I#8 (fb)

pharaoh's wife

Cruel and passionate, the third wife of an
unremarkable pharaoh was known for hand-picking lovers from her
husband's slaves. During one such time, when her husband was away on a
hunt, the pharaoh's wife picked a specific slave from a group despite
the court wizard's worry that the pharaoh would return from his hunt
shortly. Not concerned with the wizard's "unimportant details," the
pharaoh's wife retreated to her luxurious room and had the slave
brought to her, where she offered the key to the slave's shackles. When
the slave announced that his freedom was not the queen's to give, the
pharaoh's wife angrily assaulted the slave as the pharaoh himself
arrived from his hunt. Quickly coming up with an alibi, the queen
informed her husband that the slave had refused to prepare a special
feast for the pharaoh's return. Despite seeing through his wife's
excuse, the pharaoh accepted her lie to keep his queen happy and
announced that the slave would be punished for his insolence. As the
slave was dragged away, the pharaoh's wife asked if she could decide
the slave's punishment and the pharaoh agreed. The following day, the
pharaoh announced that his wife had opted to have burning metal rods
driven through the slave's eyes. When the slave remained brave, the
queen decided to punish the slave beyond mere death. She then ordered
the court wizard to cast a spell that would prevent the slave's soul
from passing into the afterlife upon his death. When the wizard
requested not to be forced to do such a thing, the pharaoh's wife
warned that he would do as he was told or she would devise an even
worse punishment for the wizard. Reluctantly doing as he was told, the
wizard cast the spell as the pharaoh and his wife watched. Following
the slave's physical death, the wizard began secretly searching for a
way to free the slave from his curse. As time passed, the pharaoh's
wife died giving birth to the pharaoh's sixteenth son.

--Thing I#8 (fb)

"wizard"

The vizier of an unnoteworthy pharaoh of ancient
Egypt, the man known only as "Wizard" was also a magician and was
ordered by his queen to send one of the pharaoh's slaves to the queen's
quarters despite the wizard's attempts to dissuade the queen by
reminding her of the pharaoh's impending return. When the pharaoh
caught his queen arguing with the slave, who had refused her advances,
he allowed the queen to determine the punishment for the slave. The
following morning, after the slave refused to beg for his life upon the
announcement of his punishment, the queen ordered the wizard to curse
the slave to be eternally reincarnated rather than pass into death. The
wizard begged to be spared of committing such a terrible punishment but
the queen threatened a worse punishment for the wizard if he did not do
as ordered. Reluctantly agreeing to curse the slave, the wizard also
began plotting to find a way to remove the curse. Some time following
the pharaoh's end and his wife's death in childbirth, the wizard
accidentally discovered a secret potion that slowed his aging and
departed Egypt. Slowly aging over thousands of years due to the potion,
the wizard eventually became a janitor at Mercy General Hospital in New
York, where he recognized the slave's spirit, this time reincarnated in
the body of the heroic Thing. Thinking about his own past, the wizard
decided to confront the Thing with an ancient box that would free the
slave's consciousness. Unsure what was going on, the Thing crushed the
box and the wizard continually attempted to convince the slave's
consciousness to release itself. Moments later, the wizard's spell
succeeded and the Slave of Souls became the dominant personality in the
Thing's body, transforming it into a rocky-formed version of the
slave's original body. Reuniting with the Slave of Souls, the wizard
attempted to sway the Slave on a mission of vengeance and Earthly rule
but the Slave of Souls was eventually convinced to leave the Thing's
body by Alicia Masters. As the Slave departed the Thing's body, he took
the manipulative wizard with him as he left the Earthly plane.

The wizard possessed powerful sorcerous abilities,
allowing him to curse others with immortality or restore a soul's
dominance over another's body. He also periodically ingested a potion
that severely slowed his aging, allowing him to live for over four
thousand years.